‘The Bibi Files’ Film Review: Alex Gibney-Produced Netanyahu Doc

Critics of Benjamin Netanyahu will probably be disappointed to learn that there are no major revelations in The Bibi Files, Alexis Bloom’s documentary concerning the corruption charges that have been swirling around the Israeli prime minister since 2016. Nonetheless, they’ll find much to feast on — including the leaked footage of police interrogations of him, his wife Sara and son Yair, which resulted in Netanyahu trying to get the film blocked by Israeli courts.

Making its official world premiere at DOC NYC — following an earlier work-in-progress screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, and shortly ahead of its theatrical and streaming releases — The Bibi Files paints a damning portrait of its subject’s machinations to stay in power.

The aforementioned charges resulted in various indictments in 2019 for breach of trust, accepting bribes and fraud, with the cases still ongoing. Netanyahu has asked for the latest part of the trial to be postponed due to the current war with Hamas, which has caused many to suspect that his management of the conflict stems as much from his desire to avoid prosecution as his oft-stated goal of “total victory.” As investigative journalist Raviv Drucker (one of the movie’s producers) puts it, “The war became another instrument to stay in power.”

Although transcripts of the inquiries have previously been released, The Bibi Files represents the first opportunity to see actual footage. And it is indeed revealing, if only to see the consummate politician and media master vent his frustration over being asked about such things as accepting gifts of, among others, expensive cigars. “So this is a crime?” he fulminates. “How terrible!”

Of course, not all of the gifts he received were so trivial — as demonstrated by a piece of jewelry worth tens of thousands of dollars, given to his wife Sara by Israeli film producer Arnon Milchan (The Revenant and 12 Years a Slave, and many others).

Netanyahu mostly displays an unflappable coolness during questioning: “Time flies when you’re having fun,” he says wryly at the end of one session. But there are times when he loses his temper, banging his fist on the table and shouting “Liar! Liar!” when informed of one witness’ allegation. But what he shows most often is an apparently very poor memory, answering “I don’t remember” to question after question. It’s a mental quality he shares with another politician with whom he has much in common, Donald Trump.

Sara, on the other hand, is a real piece of work who makes fully believable the comment by one interviewee that “I think Bibi is afraid of Sara.” An alleged heavy drinker with a fierce temper, she doesn’t take kindly to being asked about receiving presents of wine and champagne. “There are terror attacks, and you’re asking about bottles?” she fumes.

Both pale, however, in comparison to their son Yair, who’s seen as being even more right-wing than his father. He reveals his contempt for both the media and the law enforcement authorities who dare to go after his family. “You investigate because the Israeli police has become the Stasi secret police, trying to overthrow the government,” he sneers. “A police force of mafiosos.”

Aside from those juicy parts, but the film also includes incisive and frequently damning commentary from the likes of Netanyahu’s former aide Nir Hefetz, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Israeli politician Ami Ayalon, previously the head of the country’s security agency Shin Bet. Among the more serious allegations are ones involving Netanyahu’s manipulations to insure positive press coverage from such outlets as the Walla news website. “We felt like a restaurant serving only one person,” a journalist comments, adding that code words like “less paprika” meant that the story should be less critical.

The documentary, whose producers include Alex Gibney, persuasively argues that Netanyahu supported Hamas for his own political purposes. Of course, that’s not quite how he sees it, as illustrated by his using a quote from The Godfather to describe his strategy: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” he tells his interrogators.

The Bibi Files inevitably concludes with harrowing footage of the Oct. 7 attack and the resulting Israel-Hamas war, which critics suspect Netanyahu is prolonging for his own political survival. In a moving testimony, one of the survivors of the attack expresses her hope for all of the facts to come out, and for eventual peace. It’s a welcome positive note from a film in which there’s plenty of ugliness on display.